Conventionally, control apparatuses for electric parking brakes have been known that have electric motors (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In response to receiving a request for a parking brake, such an electric motor is driven to generate a pressure application force for pressing a friction-applying material against a friction-applied material on a wheel. If the electric motor is driven in this way, friction is caused between the friction-applying material and the friction-applied material, which generates a brake force to restrict rotation of the wheel. Also, a control apparatus detects a no-load current, which is a current that flows in the electric motor before having the friction-applying material contact the friction-applied material, and sets a control target current by adding the no-load current with a target current value to be increased for the motor. Then, when the amount of the motor current increased from the no-load current goes over the target current value to be increased for the motor, the drive of the electric motor is stopped.